Battlefields

June 26, 2016

Finally, at a house we visited, a crop we can recognize.

For the last two days we have been making our way slowly North from Richmond to Fredricksburg. The traffic leaving Richmond was surprisingly light on Saturday morning and we had no problem working our way through the city and into the countryside. We passed dozens of joggers and even more cyclists. We didn't pass any cyclists in the sense of moving faster than they were moving, but we saw a lot of cyclists and chatted with a few of them.

The town of Ashland seems to be especially popular with Saturday cycling groups. It's about the right distance from Richmond to stop for a cup of coffee. Since a CSX train with over 100 cars was passing through the middle of town there was even more reason to stop. North of Ashland there were fewer cyclists and we encountered our first real hills. Real as in we needed to use our granny gear 3rd chain ring. The first steep hill came unexpectedly right after a 90 degree turn in the road. We were more prepared for the subsequent hills and they did not seem so bad. Perhaps the hills accounted for the dearth of cyclists North of Ashland.

Just after the hilly section we met two cycle tourists traveling from Maine to Florida. They were hauling camping equipment. While we had encountered heavy rain on Friday night in Richmond, they had been lucky enough to miss the rain. Dark, heavy clouds were gathering when we met them, so we are not sure if their good luck continued. Ours did and by Saturday afternoon the sun was out.

On Sunday morning we visited the Spotsylvania Courthouse battlefield. Spotsylvania was fought in 1864 during General Grant's overland campaign, just after the battle of the Wilderness. Over 30,000 men were killed, wounded or captured during the fight. We stood on top of the ridge where the Confederate forces were entrenched, looking down to where a wave of Union soldiers had tried to break the confederate line. The place we stood is called the Bloody Corner, and for good reason. After the first wave failed a second followed. And another. And another. When the dead and dying bodies were lying 2 deep another wave followed. And another. In the end the bodies were 3 and 4 deep.

The action was so heavy that an oak tree 22 inches in diameter was felled by small arms fire. Today, deep in the woods, a few forest giants called "witness trees" survive. These mighty oaks were saplings during the battle over 150 years ago.

The bloody angle at the Spotsylvania Courthouse battlefield. Hallowed ground.

Our next stop was the Chancellorsville battlefield where in 1863 the Union Army of the Potomac under fighting Joe Hooker was defeated by an army less than half its size under General Robert E. Lee. Chancellorsville is known as Lee's perfect battle because he was able to out maneuver Hooker's much larger army by dividing the smaller Confederate army (twice). While the first 2 sections of the rebel army occupied the attention of the Union army, the largest section of the confederates under Stonewall Jackson outflanked, surprised and routed the right flank of the Union army.

Jackson's men had marched 12 miles with no food or water other than what they were carrying, then fought. As darkness fell Jackson was determined to continue on and crush the union forces before they could regroup and prepare defenses. He ordered an almost unheard of nighttime attack. During the confusion, while Jackson was out in front of his lines he was killed by fire from his own men.

Union cannon at Chancellorsville. They were dug in facing down the hill, but the confederate attack came from the woods to the right so they had to be frantically repositioned.

Stonewall Jackson memorial at Chancellorsville. Let us pass over the river and rest under the shade of the trees.

The story of the battle of Chancellorsville was brought to life by a walking tour conducted by a wonderful volunteer guide. There was no fee to enter the battlefields or for the tours, yet very few visitors were there to visit these locations that were pivotal in our nation's history.

Volunteer tour guide at Chancellorsville battlefield.

Our day ended with a less than peaceful ride down VA route 3, a busy 6 lane highway that crosses I-95. There are lots of quiet roads in Northern Virginia and lots of motels, but not many places where they overlap.

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